The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for crumpling and dispensing dunnage from a roll of flexible, stock paper material, and more particularly, to a disposable, dunnage dispensing apparatus which structurally reinforces its outer housing and which maintains a length of dunnage dispensed therefrom in a crumpled state.
Dunnage refers generally to packing material used to insulate the contents of shipping boxes from shocks and jolts incurred during transit and to fill voids in the shipping boxes. Various known forms of dunnage include the use of styrofoam pellets, popped corn, crumpled paper or paper padding in various forms. One form of paper dunnage, which is very well-known in the art, is provided in a strip form from flexible sheet-like stock material. The edges of the stock material are rolled inwardly to form a strip of pillow-like resilient portions. The strip is subsequently cut to the desired length.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,509,798 to Johnson is representative of a large group of Patents disclosing rather complicated mechanisms for producing dunnage comprising highly resilient pillow-like strips. Similar dunnage-making mechanisms and methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,603,216 to Johnson; 3,613,522 to Johnson; 3,655,500 to Johnson; 3,799,039 to Johnson; 4,026,198 to Ottaviano; 4,085,662 to Ottaviano; 4,109,040 to Ottaviano; 4,717,613 to Ottaviano; 4,699,609 to Komaransky and 4,750,896 to Komaransky.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,509,797 and 3,613,522 to Johnson disclose a method and machine for producing coiled, resilient cushioning dunnage by crumpling a continuous web of sheet-like material into a narrow strip. Beveled gears pull the sheet-like material through a funnel-like arrangement and also cause coiling and rotation of the coiled strip. At a distance below the beveled gears which rotate the strip, there is an interruption of the rotation, thereby kinking the strip, the rotation subsequently being resumed thereafter.
All of the methods and machines for making paper dunnage disclosed in the above-mentioned Patents rely on an intricate array of intermeshed gears and/or rollers for pulling the paper stock material and for compacting the same. Those machines that have intermeshed gearing produce dunnage which is coined or stitched for maintaining the dunnage in a crumpled form.
Such intricate machinery is not inexpensive, nor is it disposable. Furthermore, the machinery disclosed above is not easily transportable. Therefore, these known machines are suitable primarily for large-scale dunnage production and are impractical due to considerations of expense and convenience for environments such as small retail establishments, mail order houses, small shipping departments, the moving industry, individuals and the like.
Other Patents of related interest are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,098,468 to Skalleberg; 4,685,633 to Pellini; and 4,747,816 to Matsuyama et al.